SYNOPSIS OF FIXES. 267 



they are occasionally injured by spring frosts : in shaded and northern 

 exposures they appear quite hardy. P. nigra, Ficea, and Menziesii afford 

 the. best timber : P. nigra and Picea, ^vith some others, form ornamental 

 hedges, and when planted thickly, and topped down to four or five feet 

 from the ground, afford excellent cover for game. 



Pi>TS. — Group 4. Larix, Larches. 

 (Cones small and erect. Leaves in bimdles, annual.) 

 61. P. Dahurica, loic tree. 68. P. Larix flore rubro. 

 *62. P. leptolepis, free. 69. P. pendula. 



63. P. Ledebourii, tree. 70. P. Eussica. 



64. P. pendula, 60-100 ft. 71. P. repens. 



65. P. microcarpa, 100 ft. 72. P. Sibirica. 



66. P. Larix, 100 ft. 73. P. G-riffithiana, 40-60 ft. 



67. P. flore albo. 



The Larches are aU deciduous trees. They are not highly ornamental 

 in themselves ; yet they impart considerable variety to scenery. P. 

 Larix peiidt'.la is a graceful tree ; and P. pendula, with its few stragghng 

 drooping branches, has a somewhat curious aspect. The foliage is 

 mostly of a hght green ; in 65 it is more vivid than in the others. The 

 Larches succeed best in an open porous soil where there is a good natural 

 drainage ; in such situations, and with a moist atmosphere, they are often 

 extremely luxmiant. On close retentive subsoils they do not thrive. 

 P. microcarpa will grow vigorously in more swampy soils than any of 

 the others. The common Larch is the most valuable exotic timber- tree 

 which we have ; and in favourable circumstances will attain to perfec- 

 tion at even higher altitudes than the Scotch Fir does. 



Pi>'rs. — Group 5. Cedrus. 

 (Cones large, erect. Leaves in bimdles, perennial.) 

 74. P. Deodara, 100-150 ft. •' 77. P. Atlantica, 80-100 ft. 



76. P. robusta. -. 78. P. Cedrus, 60-80 ft. 



76. P. viridis. 79. P. argentea. . 



The whole of this group have a pyramidal form when young, but ac- 

 quire a broad head in mature age. The Deodar, when full grown, is 

 said to have a wide roof-like head with spreading branches and weeping 

 branchlets. The Cedars of Atlas and Lebanon have both a strongly 

 marked and characteristic form, in which the primary branches assiune 

 an ascending position, and the secondary branches a horizontal and 

 tabulated arrangement. Occasionally the old trees retain their early 

 pyramidal habit, the lesser branches still becoming horizontal. The 



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